Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
Wiley Interdiscip Rev Syst Biol Med. 2012 Jan-Feb;4(1):51-78. doi: 10.1002/wsbm.159. Epub 2011 Sep 2.
Epithelial cells organize into various tissue architectures that largely maintain their structure throughout the life of an organism. For decades, the morphogenesis of epithelial tissues has fascinated scientists at the interface of cell, developmental, and molecular biology. Systems biology offers ways to combine knowledge from these disciplines by building integrative models that are quantitative and predictive. Can such models be useful for gaining a deeper understanding of epithelial morphogenesis? Here, we take inventory of some recurring themes in epithelial morphogenesis that systems approaches could strive to capture. Predictive understanding of morphogenesis at the systems level would prove especially valuable for diseases such as cancer, where epithelial tissue architecture is profoundly disrupted.
上皮细胞组织成各种组织架构，这些架构在生物体的整个生命周期中基本保持稳定。几十年来，上皮组织的形态发生一直吸引着细胞、发育和分子生物学领域的科学家们。系统生物学提供了一种方法，可以通过构建定量和可预测的综合模型，将这些学科的知识结合起来。这些模型对于深入了解上皮形态发生是否有用？在这里，我们列出了系统方法可能试图捕捉的上皮形态发生中的一些常见主题。在系统水平上对形态发生进行预测性理解，对于癌症等上皮组织架构受到严重破坏的疾病尤其有价值。
